TeleMedicine: There’s An App For That!

TeleMedicine has the potential to shave $4.28 billion annually from America’s healthcare bill. But there are still more reasons to look for a plan that covers TeleMedicine services.

What Is Telemedicine?

As the name implies, TeleMedicine encompasses any medical activity involving distance. Today TeleMedicine uses electronic information and telecommunications, but the practice goes back to the days when sea captains would use ship-to-shore radio to obtain medical advice. TeleMedicine includes such technologies as telephones, teleconferencing, electronic mail systems, and remote patient monitoring devices, which collect and transmit patient data for monitoring and interpretation. Continue reading “TeleMedicine: There’s An App For That!”

Republicans’ Alternative to Obamacare

Six years after the Democrat-supported Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act was signed into law, Republicans submitted their recommendations for changing the law.

 

Democrats wrote the law, commonly known as Obamacare, to expand health insurance and benefits to individuals and reduce health care costs. The law mandated that all Americans have health insurance and that large employers provide coverage. It imposed regulations on insurance companies, expanded Medicaid and opened Marketplaces where individuals could buy coverage, often at a subsidized cost.

Since its implementation, more Americans reportedly have health insurance, but critics say that health insurance costs rose, coverage choices are fewer, and employers and healthcare providers have more rules and regulations to follow.

Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives formed the House Republican Task Force on Health Care Reform. Their 37-page proposal, which they released in June, is not a law, but a template for a future law. Continue reading “Republicans’ Alternative to Obamacare”